Arteta right to sell Aubameyang to Barcelona says Petit
Cameron Smith
- 1 Feb 2022 14:17 CST
- 3 min read
Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has backed Mikel Arteta's decision to drop Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and subsequently let the player join Barcelona.
Petit, who played for Arsenal between 1997 and 2000, believes Arteta "did exactly what everyone expected with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang," but backed the current Arsenal manager. "I believe Arteta made the right decision on Aubameyang and he made his mark in the dressing room with the choice he made."
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Aubameyang has been announced as a Barcelona player, and he completed his first training session at the club today.
He began the 2021/22 season as Arsenal captain, but a disciplinary breach in December 2021 saw him stripped of the captaincy duties, and dropped from the squad.
The Gabon forward played his last game for Arsenal as a substitute against Everton on December 5.
He has joined Barcelona on a free transfer after Arsenal agreed to mutually end his contract at the club, which will reportedly save them £25 million in wages. The deal marks the end of a four-year spell at the club for Aubameyang, during which he helped the Gunners win the FA Cup in 2020.
What has been said?
Petit spoke to Gambling.com about the Aubameyang situation. "I don’t want to show disrespect for Aubameyang, because I believe he is a great player. But, for the last few months he hasn’t been himself," the 1998 World Cup winner said.
"Something has changed in his mind. I don’t know if it’s related to the club, the manager or the way he is living in his private life. But we were not seeing the same Aubameyang that we saw a couple of years ago.
"I believe Arteta made the right decision on Aubameyang and he made his mark in the dressing room with the choice he made,' he said.
"To leave your captain out of a game and then put him on the transfer market is a very strong message to your dressing room."
Aubameyang signed a bumper £350,000-per-week contract in September 2020, and similarly to the situation with Mesut Ozil, Petit believes his performances took a dip once he put pen to paper on a new deal. "As the top earner at the club, like Aubameyang was, you have a reasonability to your team-mates and you need to show that on the pitch.
"Aubameyang needs to understand that you have to show a high level week-after-week and the fact he signed a new contract for big, big money may not be related to his current issue, but I will say the coincidence is huge.
"Straight after he signed that contact, he wasn’t the same player anymore.
"It wouldn’t have mattered if his future was with Arsenal or somewhere else, he needs to understand he has to go back to the player he was, with the same motivation and mentality that he had. Money is huge, but he has to get his anger back!"
Aubameyang is expected to be unveiled as a Barcelona player later this week, and could make his debut against Atletico Madrid on February 6.
